The bird is sighted in Solapur’s Nannaj, Sangole and Mangalwedha, among other areas

Forest dept starts tagging the grassland species that visits Solapur for roosting from October to March to study its movements

When Mark — an adult male Montagu’s harrier — was tagged in the United Kingdom in 2014, the bird was seen to return to the nest in the same field in summer the next year, after spending winter in Senegal and Mauritania (Africa). However, the flight trajectory of both male and female Montagu’s harriers migrating to India is a mystery that cannot be ascertained just yet. Therefore, Indian researchers have now embarked on a journey to study the migration movements of these birds through tagging.

The country-wide project is being carried out in association with various forest departments, including Pune’s wildlife division.

Montagu’s harrier is a grassland species which visits India during winters. In Maharashtra, they are found in the grasslands of Solapur. “While the European population of the birds travels to Africa, we think the population from Eastern Russia and Eastern Kazakhstan comes to India as there were a couple of ringing recoveries found here,” informed Dr T Ganesh, principal investigator in this project and a researcher from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in Bangalore.

Prevalence of this bird is an indicator of ecology. The researchers have only a couple of days ago tagged a Montagu’s harrier in Solapur.

Dr Ganesh continued, “The bird comes to grasslands in India for foraging and roosting. We are trying to understand where the bird goes, what kind of habitat it is using and where it is roosting at night. Moreover, through our study we will be able to learn how fast the bird travels.”

Dr Ganesh said that the research is being carried out in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu besides Maharashtra.

Though the species falls under the least-concern category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list, its population is fast declining due to loss of habitat. “The number has dropped even in Solapur’s Nannaj area in the past decade. Certain areas of Andhra Pradesh’s Rollapadu Bird Sanctuary, which were used for roosting by these birds, have been converted into major solar plants,” added Dr Ganesh.

The bird comes to India for roosting between October and March. “Some of the places in Solpaur where we can spot the bird are Nannaj, Sangole, Mangalwedha, etc. This bird is being tagged for the first time in the country, and in some of the countries in Europe a lot of work has been carried out already. However, in India, not much is known about the species which is why we have tagged the birds. We have tagged one juvenile and one adult so far,” said Sunil Limaye, chief conservator of forests, Pune’s wildlife division.

Rajasthan will also be one of the states to tag these birds. “In Rajasthan, Thalchapar in Churu district is very well maintained grassland, which is home to Montagu’s harrier. The area is a semi-arid zone. The tracking will help us understand where the birds go after winter. We can then mark the changes in such areas and if they are found to be detrimental to the birds, work can be done to address the situation,” stated G V Reddy, principal chief conservator of forests, Rajasthan.

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